


threads (we can't forget)

by decidueye



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: First Dates, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Genderplay, Genderqueer Character, semi-public makeouts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-02
Updated: 2015-04-02
Packaged: 2018-03-20 22:21:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3667380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/decidueye/pseuds/decidueye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kuroo decides that Akaashi needs a little coaching on the art of self-presentation, and picks up a date along the way.</p><p> </p><p>  <i>Kuroo’s perceptiveness is starting to get creepy, Keiji thinks, when the next text - a picture of Kuroo posing in a yellow sundress, perfectly cut to show off his zir arms - is captioned ‘this could be you but u playin (along with society’s assumptions about gender and fashion).’</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	threads (we can't forget)

**Author's Note:**

> the haikyuu!! fandom is vastly devoid of this ship, so of course i had to correct it through gender exploration.
> 
> Kuroo uses ze/zir pronouns in this, which might take a bit of getting used to. Thanks in advance for bearing with me! Also thank you to [](archiveofourown.org/users/megginee)megan and [](archiveofourown.org/users/arsenicjay)AJ for all your help and support on this!

Keiji starts small.

Kuroo buys him nail polish, black ( _like your soul_ , Kuroo quips, and Keiji rolls his eyes). There's no pressure, Kuroo tells him, but there's a glint in zir eyes, and Keiji can't help but watch zir walk away, confident in a floral blouse, skinny jeans hugging zir ass in all the right places.

Keiji doesn’t know where this came from. He’d thought that they were only acquaintances by way of a mutual friend, but it seems that Kuroo has other plans, and ze’s caught onto something Keiji’s never deemed to share.

Keiji waits three days before applying the nail polish. It's messy, and he has to use remover and a cotton bud to clean the edges, but when he holds his hand out in front of himself, spreading his fingers to admire the colour, Keiji smiles. There are flecks of gold in the polish. He hadn't noticed that when Kuroo gave it to him.

By the next time he sees Kuroo, the nail polish has begun to chip. Half of his left thumb is bare, and there's nothing at all on his pinky, but Kuroo still notices.

"You wore it," ze murmurs as their teams mingle before the practice match. Keiji shrugs.

"Like you said, it's not a big deal, right?"

Kuroo beams, hearing the unspoken ' _thank you_ ' in Keiji's words.

"Let's have a good game," ze says, and Keiji smirks.

Fukurodani thrashes Nekoma, using two of their newest strategies. Keiji’s been sitting on them for weeks, and Bokuto is overjoyed to have the opportunity to test them out. Kuroo's shocked expression when they get two spikes past zir blocks is priceless.

Keiji's grateful, but not that grateful.

Somehow, Kuroo gets Keiji's number. It's probably Bokuto's fault, but at least Kuroo doesn't text quite as incessantly as he does. It's an anecdote here, a picture of a cat or Kenma there, and occasionally selfies captioned 'OOTD'. For someone who complains about zir constant bedhead, ze seems to own a lot of hair clips.

Keiji notices pretty early on that Kuoo doesn’t really present zirself one way or another. It had been difficult to tell before, when he had hardly seen zir out of zir volleyball uniform, but Kuroo’s outfits differed with every picture. Ze would wear a ‘masculine’ shirt tucked into a flared skirt one day, and khakis and a tank top with perfectly applied lipstick the next.

Kuroo’s smile was always bright and just a little bit cocky, and Keiji looks at the pictures with a sort of wistfulness as he pulls a hoodie on and reapplies his nail polish.

Kuroo’s perceptiveness is starting to get creepy, Keiji thinks, when the next text - a picture of Kuroo posing in a yellow sundress, perfectly cut to show off his zir arms - is captioned ‘ _this could be you but u playin (along with society’s assumptions about gender and fashion)._ ’

Keiji snorts and throws his phone down on the bed. When the polish has dried, he picks it up again.

_[that didn’t sound nearly as clever as you think it did, Kuroo-san]_

Kuroo replies within seconds, and Keiji’s always thought there’s supposed to be a rule about that sort of thing.

_[the truth doesn’t have 2 sound clever akaashi it just is ☆]_

_[wow, deep.]_

Keiji sends the reply and goes downstairs, leaving his phone on the bed. They’re having yakisoba for dinner, and his sister pesters him over the table until he agrees to help her with her homework. Some talk show his mother likes plays in the background, and he finds himself absorbed in it for an hour, reluctant to start his own work. By the time he goes back upstairs, he has three more texts from Kuroo.

_[want 2 go shopping?]_

_[come on itll be fun]_

_[alright dude i can take a hint.]_

Keiji hesitates, scrolling through the messages as if they would change their content if he stalled long enough. He looks at his wardrobe, a mediocre composition of jeans, button downs and hoodies. He looks at the bottle of nail polish on his desk, which stands next to a tube of half used lipstick he’d taken off his mother (his skin is darker than hers; it’s not his colour. He’d scrubbed it off his lips barely seconds after applying it - if he was going to do this, he wanted to do it right).

Keiji texts back.

_[calm down, I just missed your texts. maybe next time.]_

Kuroo’s reply is just a lot of sparkling hearts and happy cat emojis, and Keiji decides that their conversation is probably over for now.

Bokuto grabs Keiji’s sleeve after practice, and Keiji sighs. It’s not that he wouldn’t mind doing a few extra tosses, but the basketball club needs to use the gym now, and they’ve already finished packing up.

“Bokuto-san-”

“Kuroo asked me to give you this,” Bokuto says, pressing a black pen into Keiji’s hand. He looks closer - it’s eyeliner. “Said there was an offer on, thought you’d appreciate it,” Bokuto continues, rocking on the balls of his feet.

“Uh…” It’s one thing to be thinking about this, but having these kinds of conversations...Keiji feels uncomfortable. He doesn’t know how to reply. Bokuto places his hands over Keiji’s, forcing him to close his grip on the eyeliner stick. He’s buzzing with the kind of enthusiasm that Keiji finds most difficult to refuse.

“Hey, hey, we’re still studying together tonight, yeah? I can do it for you if you want. I’ve done Kuroo’s a few times - ze showed me how to do the really cool winged shit!”

Keiji snorts, and suddenly he’s laughing. Bokuto takes a concerned step back when Keiji finds he can’t stop. He grips Bokuto’s shoulder for support while Bokuto fusses over him. He’s hesitant, but trying to contain his own laugh - it’s rare to see Keiji like this.

“...Yo, Akaashi, you okay? I kinda wanna record this, oh my god…”

Eventually Keiji stops laughing, and they take it in turns to use the shower before going home together. Bokuto’s already psyched up about doing Keiji’s eyes, talking about how great it’s going to look, and Keiji’s pretty excited himself, so they only get 45 minutes into their homework before abandoning it.

“Are you ready?” Bokuto asks, setting his pen on the table and waggling his eyebrows. Keiji huffs as he nods.

Bokuto kneels in front of him. Keiji has just enough time to notice that Bokuto sticks his tongue out to concentrate, the same way he does when he’s doodling little owls in the margins of his notebooks, before closing his eyes.

Keiji’s half expecting Bokuto to poke him in the eye, but he’s surprisingly gentle, and he’s already holding up a phone to use as a mirror when he tells Keiji to look.

The lines are smooth, flicking up at the corners of Keiji’s eyes. Bokuto’s grinning, and Keiji can see why - he looks good. Keiji thanks him, and Bokuto moves in for a hug, but Keiji shrugs him off, saying he doesn’t want to mess up such a good job. He settles for ruffling Keiji’s hair in the end, and Keiji makes him do another hour’s worth of homework before sending him home.

Once Bokuto has left, he takes a selfie, attaching it to a message and then sends it off.

_[thank you]_

Kuroo responds, as is typical, within 30 seconds. Keiji skims over the long line of heart emojis before going for dinner.

His mother tells him he looks good. Keiji washes his face that night, and goes to bed brimming with an emotion he can’t quite place. All he knows is that he’s smiling.

___

Keiji doesn’t remember ever giving Kuroo his address, but when he answers his door on Saturday morning, their ze is, standing behind it in black slacks and a grey zip hoodie. Keiji notices ze’s wearing wedge sneakers before allowing his eyes to drift back up to zir face.

The lipstick Kuroo’s wearing is a rouge burgundy, and it suits zir down to the ground. Keiji follows the curve of zir lips when ze smiles, slow and confident, like ze hasn’t just smashed a thousand boundaries to pieces.

“Got any plans today?”

Keiji rocks lightly on his the balls of his feet, looking back into his house. His mother is peering curiously out from the kitchen door, and makes shooing motions with her hands when he catches her eye. She’s always been keen for him to be social.

“I guess I have now,” he says eventually, gesturing to Kuroo. Kuroo’s smirk widens into a grin, and ze ushers Keiji back into his house.

“Good, get some cash. We’re going shopping.”

Keiji’s getting his wallet from his room before he really thinks about what he’s doing, and it strikes him that that’s what he finds so captivating about Kuroo. He’d assumed ze was just another Bokuto when they’d first met, and Keiji had spent an entire training camp cleaning up their messes. But he’s come to realise that Kuroo is always a lot more subtle in zir scheming, a lot more persuasive, and Keiji has a hard time keeping up.

It’s fun, in a masochistic sort of way. He can’t predict zir next move the way he can Bokuto’s.

Kuroo’s in the kitchen with his mother and a glass of water in his hand by the time Keiji’s made it back down the stairs. She’s blushing - she never blushes - and Kuroo’s smile is charming, sweet words wrapped in deep, burgundy lips. There’s victory in Kuroo’s eyes when ze catches him staring, and Keiji starts.

Keiji does his best to look unimpressed. Kuroo’s grin falters, and Keiji counts it as a win.

He bids a hurried goodbye to his mother, pulling Kuroo out the door by zir wrist and closing it behind them. He doesn’t speak while they walk to the bus stop together, and he allows Kuroo to lead him towards a pair of seats in the back, grateful that they don’t have to stand up for once. Kuroo spreads zir legs into Keiji’s space, and Keiji firmly refuses to budge, pressing back with his own thighs. He doesn’t look at Kuroo’s face, because he’s pretty sure that he’s giving zir exactly what ze wants.

They get off the bus in a part of the city Keiji hasn’t spent much time in, with a lot of smaller, independent stores and a couple of thrift shops. Kuroo makes zir way confidently to the top of the street.

“We can spend a whole day just on this one, seriously,” ze says. “They’re all super relaxed about what you try on, and there’s a cafe about half way down. I’ll buy you lunch.”

Keiji tries to imagine spending a whole day shopping. He doesn’t really think he’s ever even bought his own clothes before.

These stores are nothing like the department stores Keiji’s visited with his mother. Nothing’s categorised - just hung in colour spectrums on racks or piled into large plastic bins - and Keiji goes through the first couple in a bit of a daze. Kuroo picks up a few things for zirself and then buys him a headband. It’s white, with a little bow, making Keiji screw up his face because he hates the thought of being indebted to Kuroo and it’s a little too cutesy for his taste. He wonders if ze might be patronising him.

After that, Keiji strengthens his resolve. Kuroo might have inspired him, but he’s not going to let zir dictate his choices.

Keiji moves through the next store with a slow caution, eyeing the racks until something catches his eye. He collects a pair of smock shorts with a crochet trim and a pale cream chiffon blouse, and he’s about to make his way to the changing room when Kuroo stops him.

“Hey, your wardrobe’s bare, right? You’ve got to complete the outfit, you know.”

Kuroo guides him to a corner of the shop that has been sectioned off with shelving units, and Keiji browses the shoes while Kuroo disappears. He’s not expecting to find any that fit, but there’s a small section in the corner reserved for larger, wider feet, and the shop assistant shoots him a smile when he finds it. He smiles briefly at her, selecting black mary janes - the only shoes that they have in his size - and Kuroo returns with a pair of grey thigh-high socks. Keiji gives zir a pointed look, but Kuroo just smiles.

“Trust me,” ze says, ushering Keiji towards the changing room.

Keiji doesn’t look as he gets changed, turning away from the mirror to face the door, gaze focused on Kuroo’s feet, which he can see in the gap between the floor and curtain.

“Don’t you have something to try on?” he calls.

“I’ve got my size and style down, Akaashi, no need to worry. Besides, I want to get a look at you.”

Keiji stops for a moment.

“I’m not letting you see,” he says, smiling as he pictures Kuroo’s indignant expression.

“Excuse you?”

“I guess you’ll have to wait to see me wear them if I buy them,” Keiji says, finishing the last button on the blouse - they go down the other side, he hasn’t noticed that before - and bending over to pull up the socks.

He steps into the shoes, laughing when he hears Kuroo’s sullen mumbling (“ _Why am I even here then, seriously,_ ”), and then turns to look in the mirror.

The first thing he sees is that these shorts cut off earlier than his gym shorts, and there’s a tan line of about two centimeters that he might have to take care of. The second, which is something he’s been dimly aware of but never paid much attention to before, is that he has pretty decent legs.

The chiffon feels comfortable against his chest, moving loosely with his arms as he turns, admiring the back of his own thighs in the mirror. The slight heel on his shoes manages to accentuate the length, somehow, and though he hasn’t built up as much muscle as Bokuto (or even Kuroo, if he thinks back to the picture he’d been sent of Kuroo’s dress), his legs are toned enough.

Keiji is struck with the realisation that he looks _good_ in this, as good as Kuroo ever has, and maybe it’s not about the person after all, but just what you want to wear.

He folds the clothes carefully as he gets back into the outfit he’d arrived in - plain jeans, a plain hoodie, the same as always - and bites the inside of his cheek once before exiting the changing room. Kuroo looks up hopefully, and then huffs.

“Well?” ze says, clearly disappointed. Keij smiles and Kuroo seems caught off guard by the expression.

“I’m buying them,” is all Keiji will give zir, and Kuroo pesters him all the way to the register.

Keiji doesn’t buy any more complete outfits before lunch. He browses the stores with a new kind of interest, picking up a set of bangles, a baggy cardigan with deep pockets and some make-up. He finds a lipstick that Kuroo guarantees will suit his skin tone - a deep plum - and pockets it carefully. They pass a piercing store, and Kuroo grabs him by the elbow with a grin and raised eyebrows, but Keiji shrugs zir off.

“That’ll have to wait until the holidays,” he explains, and Kuroo’s mouth falls slightly agape. Keiji wonders if ze thought he wouldn’t do it. “I can’t have anything healing when I’m training every day.”

“Hmm, it wouldn’t be that bad,” Kuroo says, but ze leaves it at that.

Kuroo takes him to a small coffee shop, crammed into the space between two stores for lunch. Keiji orders a coke and the first thing on the menu, reaching into his back pocket for his wallet (emptying fast, he thinks with a sullen note), but Kuroo stops him with a hand over his wrist. It’s a little too close to his ass for comfort, and Keiji fights down a blush.

“Are you looking for an excuse to grope my ass?” Keiji asks, turning to zir with a raised eyebrow. Kuroo’s eyes widen, startled, and then ze laughs.

“Well, it’s a bonus, I’m not gonna lie,” ze says, and Keiji forces his flush down, maintains his unimpressed look.“But I just wanted to remind you what I said earlier. Lunch is on me.”

Keiji frowns. “You’ve already bought me something today, Kuroo-san,” he says. “It’s dangerous to be owing you any favours.”

Kuroo laughs again, open mouthed and unrestrained, and Keiji’s throat goes a little dry.

“It’s not a favour, Akaashi. It’s a date.”

“I -” Keiji begins his retort before he fully processes what Kuroo has just said, and he stops short, looking at zir sharply. “Are you serious?”

Kuroo shrugs, hands in the pockets of zir hoodie, and Keiji coughs, realising that the reply had perhaps come out a little more sharply than intended. He’d thought that Kuroo was fucking with him; had been ready to tell zir that ze was going too far. Even though Kuroo is still smirking, ze struggles to hold Keiji’s gaze.

“Do you want me to be?”

Keiji hesitates. He could insist that he pay for himself, and the tension between them would probably dissolve. Kuroo would laugh it off and they’d continue, a friend showing another the ropes of - whatever they were doing together. He wouldn’t have to consider Bokuto’s reaction. He wouldn’t have to consider the many ways that this could go wrong.

That would probably be the most sensible course of action. But Keiji hasn’t exactly been sensible today, and he can’t stop himself from thinking of all the ways this could go _right._

Keiji moves his hand away from his pocket, “Alright,” he says, and Kuroo’s smirk broadens into a grin. Ze practically dives towards the counter to make zir own order and pay, and Keiji feels his shoulders relax.

Kuroo’s entire demeanour shifts as they make their way towards the table. Even though ze’s carrying their drinks, ze still tries to pull Keiji’s chair out for him, reaching out and hooking the leg with zir ankle. Keiji decides to humour zir, and sits down, taking his drink from Kuroo with poorly contained amusement.

“What?” Kuroo asks, and Keiji can tell ze’s self-conscious. Zir fingers are drumming against the table with a familiar, nervous energy, and zir brow is creased in curiosity. Keiji smiles.

“I’m just remembering why you and Bokuto-san get on so well.”

Kuroo laughs, leaning back in zir chair, “Coming from you that’s definitely a compliment, so I’ll accept it.”

“You think?”

“Oh, definitely. You play the exhausted martyr pretty well, but we all know you’ve got stars in your eyes when it comes to him.”

Keiji sighs, “I wouldn’t go that far.”

“Sure, keep denying it.”

Their food arrives while Keiji’s still laughing, and talk turns to volleyball for a while, discussing their teams as they try to tease their latest strategies out of each other. However Keiji is as unyielding as Kuroo is, and they eventually agree to arrange another practice match so that they can put them to use. It’s easy, and Keiji is struck by the fact that it’s not that different from how they were before.

He’s not really sure why he expected it to be.

The main difference is that when Kuroo grabs Keiji’s hand as they leave the cafe, pulling him through the next series of stores and threading their fingers together, Keiji notices that zir hand is warm. The hold is loose, and Keiji knows he can let go at any time but he doesn’t really want to, even when Kuroo tugs him along narrow aisles and Keiji has to take care to avoid bumping into anything. Keiji watches as Kuroo tries on a string of hats, offering up dry commentary until Kuroo agrees to buy the most ridiculous - a straw boater that Keiji really, really shouldn’t think looks good on zir.

(Honestly, it looks atrocious, but it might be the way Kuroo poses dramatically, fluttering zir eyelashes with one hand behind zir head that makes Keiji wants to pull zir down and kiss that laugh. He wonders what it tastes like.)

(...But they’re in public, and Keiji has self control.)

Keiji picks out another outfit. This time it’s a long, deep green knit tunic and floral leggings. He doesn’t pick out any shoes; he can’t afford them anyway, and he figures this would look fine with his sneakers.

“You have to let me see this time. If you don’t I’m gonna break up with you,” Kuroo says as they meander towards the dressing room. Keiji stops zir at the curtain.

“Shortest relationship ever,” he quips, drawing it closed.

Kuroo scoffs from the other side of the curtain and Keiji laughs as he changes, enjoying the rise he can get out of Kuroo. He slides into the leggings and pulls the knit over his head, adjusting it into place and taking in his reflection again.

He feels...comfortable. More than he ever would have expected. But he knows the clothes suit him, and that Kuroo supports him, and it’s incredible what a difference that makes.

Keiji takes the lipstick Kuroo had picked out for him earlier and leans closer to the mirror so that he can apply it. His lines are messy, and he wets the tip of a finger with his tongue, going over the bow of his lips to clean up until he’s satisfied with his appearance. He looks good.

“Okay, Kuroo-san,” he says, voice deliberately weary, and Kuroo must have been expecting it, because ze slips around the curtain in a flash, eyes gleaming.

“I knew you’d cave - woah,” ze says, stopping short. There isn’t much space, but Kuroo leans backwards as if to get a better view, and Keiji suddenly feels self conscious.

“Well?” he asks, and Kuroo whistles, low and oh-so-cliched.

“You look good,” ze says slowly, and suddenly ze’s in Keiji’s space, tugging at the neckline of his tunic until ze’s satisfied. Their faces are level, and Keiji lets out a breath that ghosts against the bottom of Kuroo’s jaw, and then Kuroo’s got an arm on either side of Keiji’s head, bracing zirself against the wall of a dressing room. Kuroo regards Keiji with hooded eyes, zir tongue licking at zir bottom lip, and Keiji swallows.

“Is this OK?” Kuroo asks. Keiji nods once and tilts his head up so that their lips can meet.

It starts slow, with Kuroo drawing out a chaste kiss that has Keiji shamefully tailing after zir when ze pulls away. Kuroo huffs, amused, and when ze moves back in Keiji is quick to snake a palm across the back of zir neck, aiming to regain some semblance of control.

“Didn’t expect you to be this keen,” Kuroo comments in between short kisses, and Keiji opens his eyes just to roll them.

“Shut up,” he says, and Kuroo does, sucking at Keiji’s bottom lip in a way that makes him gasp, fingers subconsciously clutching at the nape of Kuroo’s hair. Briefly, he thinks that his lipstick has probably smudged now, and he can’t believe he wasted his first application, but then Kuroo’s tongue runs along the base of his teeth and he’s focusing on kissing again, opening his mouth a little wider to allow Kuroo access and pressing on zir neck to bring zir closer, his free hand moving around zir waist.

Kuroo pulls back a little, touching their foreheads together, and Keiji frowns, letting out a grunt of discontentment. He makes to pull Kuroo back in, but Kuroo avoids his mouth, instead fastening zir mouth onto Keiji’s neck, at the sensitive spot just below his earlobe. Keiji’s intake of breath is sharp when he feels Kuroo nip at the skin.

“Kuroo,” he admonishes, but it comes out softer than he intended, more like a plea. “We’re in a public store.”

The damp patch on Keiji’s skin is cold when Kuroo lifts zir head a few centimeters, and Keiji misses the contact in spite of himself.

“In a private dressing room,” Kuroo retorts before continuing, and Keiji doesn’t have the heart to protest. He leans his weight back against the wall and angles his head so that Kuroo can better nibble the expanse of his neck. He doesn’t know what to do with his hands, and instead acts on instinct, running one down the length of Kuroo’s arm as the other grips zir hip tightly.

Kuroo moves down Keiji’s neck towards his clavicle, pulling at the neck of the tunic so that ze can suck on the curve of the bone there. Kuroo moves one of zir hands off the wall, reaching down and shoving the knit material up and working zir fingers up Keiji’s abdomen towards his nipple. Keiji gasps at the contact, flushing in embarrassment when his hips buck of their own volition and moves his hand onto Kuroo’s shoulder to steady himself.

He’s only sixteen, after all.

“I swear, if you ruin these clothes before I’ve even bought them…” Keiji breathes, and Kuroo barks out a laugh.

“Maybe we should get you out of them then,” ze teases, voice low, but ze steps away, and Keiji exhales a sigh of relief, because he’s not sure he would have had the will to resist. Kuroo starts to straighten up and Keiji grabs the string of zir hoodie, pulling zir in for one last kiss.

Kuroo is smiling when they break apart, zir mouth wet with Keiji’s saliva, with patches of his  plum lipstick blending into Kuroo’s own burgundy.

A thrill runs along Keiji’s spine, shuddering as a flush creeps up his neck, and he runs a hand through his hair, composing himself.

“Alright, get out,” he says, pushing a laughing Kuroo back through the curtain. He changes out of the clothes quickly, willfully ignoring the bulge in his boxer shorts as he changes. His own lipstick has smudged as much as he’d predicted, and he looks a mess, but there’s not much he can do to make himself more presentable. His cheeks are red as he shuffles towards the till, keeping his head down when he slides the money towards the cashier. There’s a bruise forming on his neck and he’s sure she can see it.

Kuroo’s still laughing when they leave the store, and Keiji elbows ze gently in the ribs.

“That took an interesting turn of events,” Kuroo chirps, patting Keiji on the shoulder only to receive a scathing look in return.

“As if you didn’t intend that to happen from the start,” he said, tugging at his clothes.

Kuroo grins. “I can dream, can’t I?”

“You did more than that.”

Kuroo teases him some more as they wait for the bus together, but they fall into silence again when they sit down. This time, Keiji is aware of their thighs pressing together in an entirely different sense, and he allows himself to lean into Kuroo.

A quick flash, and Keiji blinks, eyes focusing on the phone in front of their faces and Kuroo’s cheesey grin. Ze’s wrapped zir arm around Keiji’s shoulder and is making a peace sign, covering most of Keiji’s bleary stare.

“Don’t show anyone,” Keiji says, expression pained when he sees just how much of a mess he looks on Kuroo’s screen.

“Don’t worry, this is just for me,” Kuroo says, grinning wickedly and pulling Keiji to his feet as the bus jerks to a stop. Keiji blanches behind zir as they exit the bus - he doesn’t want to know what Kuroo is planning to use that for.

“You’re not walking me home,” Keiji says, and Kuroo presses a hand to zir heart.

“I just want to be chivalrous…” ze says, and Keiji snorts.

“You’ve been chivalrous enough.” He cranes his neck and Kuroo leans down so that Keiji can press a quick kiss to the corner of his mouth. He leaves without looking back, hastily making his way up the stairs when he arrives back home so that he can get to the bathroom before his mother sees him.

He washes his face, bracing against the sink as he glances in the mirror. The bruise isn’t quite as bad as Keiji had thought - it had been worsened by the stain of Kuroo’s lipstick, which comes off with a few gentle wipes. There isn’t much he can do to cover his neck, but he might be able to use  a hoodie to hide most of it.

His phone goes off when he’s leaving the bathroom. When he unlocks the screen, he recieves a screenshot of Kuroo’s homescreen.

_[Like my new wallpaper?]_

Keiji rolls his eyes. As if he could possibly have expected Kuroo to be subtle. He sighs once, and then taps out a reply.

_[I think we can take a better one than that.]_

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> please come find me on [tumblr](http://queerkeiji.tumblr.com/). i'm dying of thirst.


End file.
